THEORETICAL FUNDAMENTALS OF FUTURE LAWYERS’ PROFESSIONAL TRAINING AT THE UNIVERSITIES OF CANADA AND GREAT BRITAIN.

UNITED Kingdom; CANADA

The article presents the results of analysing the main theoretical fundamentals underlying future lawyers’ professional training in the context of university education in Canada and Great Britain. It shows that the development of educational and professional training programs in the field of law in the higher education system of the countries under study is based on a combination of such philosophical and pedagogical theories as cognitivism, constructivism, pragmatism and progressivism. The essence of the abovementioned theories is revealed and their influence on the organization of educational activity for training highly qualified lawyers is emphasized. The paper identifies and characterizes the principle ideas and concepts that are effectively implemented in the process of legal specialists’ professional training at Canadian and British universities, namely: active learning, student-centred learning and service learning. In this respect, attention is focused on the transformation of the role and functions of a teacher and a student in the educational process. The importance of applying a student-centred approach to training future lawyers, which shifts the emphasis from teaching to learning, is highlighted. It is established that the strategy of active training of law students at the universities in Canada and Great Britain is implemented through the use of discussion, problem-solving methods, case method and various types of simulations. It is noted that the concept of service learning is embodied by combining classroom learning with participation in the work of legal clinics and volunteer programs in these countries. The expediency of conducting further comparative and pedagogical research on this issue to outline the possibilities of using constructive ideas and to improve the future legal specialists’ training in higher legal educational establishments in Ukraine is substantiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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